


Dream A Little Dream Of Me

by tabbytabbytabby



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: Buried Alive, Claustrophobia, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Light Angst, Panic Attacks, Post Episode: s02e10 The Dark Side, Season/Series 02, Teasing, Trapped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 12:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22850041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: Lucy tries to deal with the fact that she's been buried alive as she waits and hopes someone will find her.
Relationships: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 12
Kudos: 131





	Dream A Little Dream Of Me

**Author's Note:**

> I started this months ago after episode 10 and it's been sitting unfinished in my docs as I tried to figure out what to do with it. Since the show is about to come back I finally got off my ass and finished it.

Lucy doesn't scream. She wants to. She wants to scream until her throat is raw in hopes that someone will hear her. 

But she knows no one can hear her out here. And that screaming will use up the little oxygen she has left. 

So she sings to herself. A way to keep herself sane. Someone will find her. Her friends are probably looking for her already. They're smart and capable. They'll find her. They have to. 

She doesn't like thinking about the alternative. That she could die in this barrel, buried so far under that no one would think to look. 

But they are looking. She knows they are. Jackson and Nolan wouldn't give up on her. Tim wouldn't. She tries to imagine Tim's face when he finds out she's missing. He'd no doubt be annoyed when she didn't show up for work. Then worried. 

He'd be worried, right? Enough to know something is wrong. To remember their conversation. Remember Caleb.

Tim's determined. If he knows she's missing he'll find her. 

She just hopes it's in time. 

Time starts to lose meaning after a while. It's hard to keep track in here. Everything is dark and cold. She has no idea if it's morning or night. Or how much time has passed since she's been here. 

Too much, she knows. 

She feels her panic starts to rise, clawing at her throat. She’s never considered herself claustrophobic, but here in this barrel, knowing her time is limited, makes the space feel far too small. 

_Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you_   
_Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you_   
_But in your dreams whatever they be_   
_Dream a little dream of me_

Singing only works for a short time and then she’s left in silence. She leans her head back against the cold side of the barrel and closes her eyes, unable to stop the tears from falling.

Her lungs are starting to ache, so she tries to control her breathing. If she could just conserve her oxygen…

God it really is getting harder to breathe. The thought works her into another panic. If no one finds her she’s going to die in here. She’ll be just another victim of this psychopath. She refuses to let that happen. She can’t just give up and die.

A scream tears through her throat before she can stop it. Once she’s started she can’t stop. She bangs on the barrel, screaming and screaming until her throats raw. 

Someone is going to find her. They have to. 

Every part of her aches now, and she’s so tired. The logical part of her knows that’s wrong. She needs to focus. But there’s a lot to focus on down here. And her thoughts are scattered, unable to fix on anything. 

She tries to stay awake, but it's hard when sleep seems so promising. There's no pain in sleep. 

It is brighter though. The sudden onset of light to her senses has her squeezing her eyes tighter. She hears a voice, stern and familiar above her. It's calling her name. She wants to answer, to reach out and touch it. 

That's wrong though. You can't touch voices. But oh she wants to touch this one.

“Chen? Chen? Are you with me? Lucy!”

She opens her eyes at the feeling of warm hands on her face. Everything blurs for a moment before Tim’s face comes into view. So this is what he looks like when he’s worried. She smiles and reaches up, tracing the lines on his face with her fingers. 

“I knew you’d find me,” she whispers, throat still achy and raw.

Relief flashes across his face. “Of course I did. You’re my boot. I can’t have you dying on me.”

“That’d probably look bad for your record,” she says. She realizes her hand is still on Tim’s face. He’s made no move to take it off though. Something to think about later. “Water?”

Tim nods and reaches behind him, coming back with a bottle of water. He helps her sit up and leans her against him, something she’s grateful for. She’s not sure she could manage on her own just let, and doesn’t want to go through the embarrassment of admitting it. She takes the bottle when he hands it to her and brings it to her lips. “Thanks.”

“Go slow,” he warns her. “We don’t need you getting sick.”

“Where is everyone else?” she asks him after a few sips. She was sure John and Jackson would be hovering somewhere.

“I had them give us a minute,” Tim tells her. “They’re close. But I didn’t want to overwhelm you.”

“I always knew you had a soft side,” she teases.

“Only for certain people.”

The way he’s looking at her has her stomach fluttering. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Finding me,” she says. “I knew you would. But there were times down there that I… I thought I might die.”

“I wasn’t going to let that happen,” he tells her. “None of us were. You’re too important to us.”

“Even to you?”

“Especially to me.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but don’t make a big deal out of it,” he says. He’s trying to look stern, even annoyed. Which just makes it all the more endearing. “You’re gonna have a lot to work through, you know? It might not have hit you yet, but it will. Just know you don’t have to go through that alone. There are plenty of people who are here for you.”

She knows he’s right. She’s been so relieved with being above ground and with being alive that she hasn’t really let herself process what happened. It’s like she’s talking about it from some far away perspective. But it will hit her eventually, she knows that. 

“Can we come over there yet?” Jackson calls.

Tim looks down at her, eyebrow raised. She smiles. “It’s fine.”

“Yeah come on,” Tim calls.

It’s barely a few seconds later when Jackson and John are kneeling down in front of her. 

“Are you okay?” Jackson asks. “Wait, that’s a dumb question. Of course you’re not.”

“Do you need to be checked out?” John questions. “Are you hurt?”

“Stop crowding her,” Tim warns them. 

She smiles. “I’m fine. A little shaken, but I’ll survive. I’m alive and that’s what matters. And that’s thanks to all of you.”

“I still think you should go to the hospital and get checked out just to be safe,” Tim says.

She knows there’s no arguing with him, and from the looks on Jackson and John’s faces they’re on the same page as Tim. “Fine,” she says. “I’ll go. But I’m not staying overnight. I want my own bed.”

She lets them help her to her feet, and leans on Tim for support as they walk back towards the road. She could probably walk on her own now, but she needs the contact. The reassurance that she really is okay. She’s alive. She made it out. 

Tim’s voice is quiet against her ear, breaking her out of her thoughts. “I think you’ve earned yourself a day off, boot.”

She looks up at him. “Only if you take it off with me.”

“What? This isn’t a negotiation.”

“Right,” she says. “Because you’ve never gone back to work before you should have.”

“We’re not talking about me.”

“I’m just saying, I might need someone to make sure I don’t hurt myself,” she says.

He raises an eyebrow, “Is that right?”

“Yep.”

“And why can’t West do it?”

“Do you really think he could stop me from doing something?” she asks him. “He’d probably feel guilty for telling me no.”

“And I wouldn’t?”

“We both know you’d enjoy it.”

He smiles at that. “You’re right.” 

“Of course I am.”

“Fine,” he says. “I’ll take one day off, to make sure you don’t hurt yourself reaching for the cookie jar.”

She smiles, feeling proud of herself.

He’s silent for a moment, eyes searching her face. “I am glad you’re alright, Chen.”

She doesn’t admit out loud that she needs Tim around because she knows he’ll keep her calm without coddling her. Mostly. There’s more there that has been brimming beneath the surface. Something she’s not brave enough to go too far into. Not yet, at least. Maybe someday they will. 

For now, she just takes comfort in his presence as she figures out how to work through the trauma of what she went through. It’s enough to know that he’s here, and that she’s not alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos/comments make my day 💜  
> [My tumblr](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/)


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